Tappet wrench



O.,HEUMADER TAPPET WRENCH Sept. 30, 1952 Filed Sept. 25, 1949 Fig. 2.

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BY WW ZZM Patented Sept. 30, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TAPPET WRENCH Otto Heumader, St. Joseph, Mo.

Application September 23, 1949, Serial No. 117,408

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to novel improvements in wrenches, and particularly appertains to an improved tappet wrench, which can be advantageously utilized to tighten or loosen nuts or similar fastening elements, which are located in positions, not visually perceptible, and unaccessible for direct hand adjustment.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to enable the valve tappet mechanism of the internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle to be adjusted easily and conveniently regardless of the state of motion of the engine.

These and ancillary objects are attained by providing a tappet wrench having feelers projecting outwardly from the outer ends of the jaws, one of the jaws being formed with an inwardly facing shoulder for positioning the jaws on a reciprocating nut or similar element.

Further structural features of merit may be found in the preferred embodiment of this inven- I tion, which is set forth in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the wrench, constructed as taught by this invention;

Figure 2 is an elevationalview of a conventional tappet valve, with the wrench being operativeLv illustrated for adjusting the adjusting screw; and Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the wrench and adjusting screw, the wrench being shown in longitudinal vertical section.

In the accompanying drawings, a conventional tappet valve H) for the internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle is illustrated, the game being reciprocated by the cam l2 and being provided with an adjusting bolt or screw I 4, having an enlarged hexagonal nut head It.

The wrench I1 is primarily designed and constructed for utilization in adjusting the tappet valve, when the valve is in operation and is reciprocating at a rapid speed. The wrench includes a shank 20 on one end of which are formed integral offset complementary jaws 22 and 24 having opposing plane inner surfaces 26 to engage the nut l6 and rotate the adjusting screw I4 during the reciprocation of the valve tappet mechanism.

A pair of transversely spaced fingers 32, 84 are formed integrally with the respective jaws 24, 22 and project outwardly beyond the open end of the space or recess 30 between the jaws, the inner edge of the finger 34 being coplanar with the inner surface of the jaw 22 but the inner edge of the finger 32 being stepped inwardly from the 2 inner surface of the jaw 24, so as to afford a shoulder 28 at one side of the recess 30.

In use, as seen in Figure 2, the fingers 32, 34 have proven of inestimable value in that they guide the jaws oto the nuts and a mehanic can thereby adjust the nuts without being able to clearly see the location thereof. The shoulder 28 formed on the jaw 24, in effect, forms a stepped jaw or a jaw having an inner surface on two planes. This shoulder enables the jaws to be rested on the nuts, when the wrench is being rotated to adjust the screw. However, particular attention is directed to Figure 2, wherein it will be noted that the feeler fingers do not extend above the upper surfaces of the jaws, the fingers being coplanar with the jaws, so that the wrench does not project above the nut head and a feeler gauge can be inserted between the top of the tappet and the lower end of the valve.

As seen in Figure 3, the jaws can be positioned on the lower face of the nut head and held thereon by the abutment of the shoulder on the lower face of the nut head. The fingers will, of course, pass over the nut, as the jaw are moved on the nut head, and will aid in the positioning of the jaws on the nut head.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a tappet wrench, a rigid wrench head having fiat upper and lower surfaces and provided with an open ended recess to afford a pair of transversely spaced jaws, a pair of transversely spaced feeler fingers formed integrally with said head fiush with the fiat upper surface thereof and projecting outwardly beyond the open end of said recess, the distance between said feeler fingers being less than the distance between said jaws, the inner edge of one finger being coplanar with the inner surface of the associated jaw, and the inner edge of the other finger being stepped inwardly from the inner surface of the other jaw to afford a work engaging shoulder at one side of said recess.

I OTTO HEUMADER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES .PATENTS Number Name Date 109,665 Richards 1 Nov. 29, 1870 922,258 Caven May 18, 1909 

